Did you know that the oldest (unofficial) post box in South Africa is not an actual box… but a tree?
It’s true! In 1500, Pêro de Ataíde, captain of a Portuguese ship returning from the East, left a letter under a tree in Mossel Bay. The letter detailed the loss of some of the ships on their fleet and warned of troubles in the eastern seas. It was customary for passing ships to stop on the bay to take on food and fresh water, and so some years later, the letter was discovered and delivered to Portugal by another sea captain.
This was the start of the South African postal service, as seamen often left correspondence there, in the hopes of it being delivered by passing ships.
The impressive milkwood tree is said to be over 600 years old, and still stands there overlooking the bay. It has been declared a national monument, and a postbox was set up under it with its own special cancellation mark and everything! The postbox sits on what is now the Bartolomeu Dias Museum complex.
A big thank you to Cathy, the South African member who pointed out this tree for us and took the nice photos above. That is her auntie Chris on the left, mailing a postcard home!
49 comments so far
Wow, great story!
I'd be happy to get a postcard from that marvellous historic place! - What a wonderful old tree!
Thank you for sharing this on the blog!
I there. Elizma from SA. It was very nice to see this info about our tree from SA on the blog.
I was at the tree last year and it was of great interest
because I started postcrossing! I also posted a postcard from the tree.
A great place and town to visit if you come to SA.
Awesome.
I would like to get a card send from this cool mail box with such deep history feel on it! :D
Awesome!!
Wonderful story, thanks for sharing this Cathy!
Oh wow! How awesome to see my pics on your page! We had a wonderful visit to Mossel Bay and next time I pass by, I have a list of people I have to send mail to from there. By the way, that is my Auntie Chris from the UK in the photo...thanks again.
What a cool post! And a beautiful old tree!
Loved to read about it! Thanks for sharing :)
I love it!
What a nice way to keep people honoring hystorical sites! Congrats to SA Mail system and to SA postcrosser Cathy!
wow! thats a great tree and interesting information thank you for it! :)
What a wonderful postbox and the tree!! As a tree fan, it will be fantastic if I can visit there myself someday or receive a postcard from there. Thanks for sharing this information! :D
Amazing story. I want that postcard cancellation from that tree too....Every thing in this world has a story. Thank you for sharing this wonderful and amazing information.
Cool!
Thank you for sharing this history! Life is good and great stories are very worthwhile and enjoyable. Happy Valentines Day to everyone and especially to this tree.
Thank you for sharing this interesting story....
No words... just =-o :-) :-)
Awesome! I'd love to receive a card from there!
Thanks for sharing this story;)
There is something similar on one of the Galápagos Islands. It is a postbox though, not a tree, but it doesn't have a cancellation. I used it and it worked, put a postcard in (to a relative) and it arrived in Germany about three months later. No stamp, no cancellation, someone had picked it up in Galápagos, taken it home and then driven by and put it in the postbox. The recipient (and me too) were fascinated. I didn't take a card because none was supposed to go anywhere near me.
Wauw, that's an old tree and with a lot of history.
It looks so much better that the steal boxes in my village.....
great natural monument. Very special postbox. Lovely story.
so cool! I wish I could visit it one day! :)
Wonderful story! I wish we could mail cards from somewhere so interesting, here in the U.S.
Enjoyed this interesting story! Thanks for sharing it.
So cool. I will have to add this to my list of places to go to in South Africa. :)
Interesting story! Thanks for sharing. I love trees and I love postcards, so this is really a perfect combination. I would love to receive a postcard from there, too. Well, who knows, I might get to SA someday. How I wish! :-)
Thanks for share this true storie
It's a really great story! Thank you for sharing!
How cool is that? I'd love a card sent from there too! :-D
Wooow... awesome. Thank you for sharing this interesting story.
What a great story! Thanks for sharing it with Postcrossers.
Wow! That is amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Fantastic! That postmark would be a great prize!
Great Story and Information !
Thank you for it !
A Picture postcard with this tree would be good to my tree collection...
WOW!!!! LOVE the Tree and the Story behind it! Shared it with my brother - a retired Postal Letter Carrier!! Thank you so much!!
It's amazing.If I can use it to mail postcard,it will be interesting.
Great story, i would love when I maybe get someday a postcard from this place. Amazing
many such stories are there in India too. Like people used to know the content of a letter without opening its Envelop.
Such a lovely story! :D
Wonderful story, I'd be happy to get the map of the area.
I see this tree with my own eyes when I travelled to South Africa - he is wonderful!
Great Story. Thank you for sharing it with us.
wow... more than 20 years ago I visited South Africa, visited also Mossel bay and was impressed by that tree and it's history... and now I find story about it here. Thank you for bringing back a lot of memories.
Wow, I love this story!!
What a wonderful story.I really wanna travel there by myself~
Fascinating story! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! Just loved reading about it!
@everybody who expressed the wish to receive a postcard with this cancellation on the stamp: your cards have been posted. Watch your mail box!
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